Thomas Friedman, writing from Seoul in today's New York Times, argues that foreign countries actually want the US to remain a superpower -- because the alternative is a world without any structure:
"Somewhere in the back of their minds, a lot of people seem to be realizing that the alternative to a U.S.-dominated world is not a world dominated by someone else or someone better. It is a leaderless world. Neither Russia nor China has the will or the way to provide the global public goods that America — at its best — consistently has. The European Union right now is so split that it cannot even agree on an effective stimulus package."
Love this argument -- it's definitely not one I've ever thought about it. I think the key is the reference to "the back of their minds" - this is not something most foreigners (or at least not Europeans) would outwardly admit. I wouldn't admit it myself - I'd prefer a multipolar world. But I guess what Friedman is saying is that a functioning multipolar world is a bit of a pipedream (at least at the moment).
